Colin

Of course there is a "negative attitude".............You just look a big chunk of change out of the guy's pocket!..............LOL
At Dr. Ortiz's office they give you a number of doctor's who will do your fills.

Well Done! Keep at ..................you are an inspriration to

I just HAVE to brag a little. I went out to dinner with my fiancé tonight and the hostess led us to a booth. I was about to ask for a table instead when I just decided to try the booth and see. Well, not only did I fit in the booth but there was a good 3-4 inches between me and the table!! I was beaming! I told my fiancé and he was high fiving me and praising my hard work! I was so happy I didn't want to eat hehe!!!

Glad you are feeling better!! I got the minimum fill they would give me at my last fill 3 weeks ago (.5 cc) and it's too much....hoping they'll be able to remove half of that tomorrow but I have a feeling they'll take it all. Which really sucks because then I'll be back to where I was before, and I wasn't losing at that place.

I love the fact that my surgeon listens to me...yes he has been doing this for years and actually trains other surgeon..but I know what i'm feeling in my body..i'm so glad my surgeon doesn't have a set schedule for fills but let's u have some say so in it...now getting an appointment isnt easy but he does listen.

That is a very good cautionary tale on how important the fills are. I am lucky because my surgeon tentatively schedules the first fill for week 6, which i think is fabulous! Keep up with the fills and the good work! You will get that 5 lbs and more off before you know it.

41 more till my docs goal
66 more till my personal goal !!!!!!!

I have issues with chicken (white meat especially) and steak. Some people just can't tolerate certain foods after banding even though we are "supposed" to be able to eat anything.

I wouldn't worry about choosing the Band over other proceedures because the Band is so non-invasive that you can still go for something else down the road.
Congrats on taking the rights steps!

Hello everybody. I had previously had an account on here but havent been on in forever and created a new account. The twenty-fifth of this month will be my one year bandiversary =) I have lost almost 80 lbs and have been at a plateau since August but began the insanity work-outs almost three weeks ago and have lost three more lbs. I have had my struggles as we all have had or will have. I'm glad to be back and amongst others who have been where I have been and understand on a level that not many people do. =)

Well done! Way to work it!!!
Keep up the great work and you'll be at goal in no time. Keep posting your success...it will motivate those on the board...and balance out the negative band posts lol.
I too love my band!!! I'm 5.5 pounds away from goal and more focussed than ever to get there.
Enjoy your success...you've earned it!

I have had to spend a fortune buying new clothes and have done serious damage to my credit card. I also keep having to reintroduce myself as neighbours and other aquaintances don't recognise me.

I promised myself, that when I hit a year, I'd post a "success" story.
A year ago today, I lay in the "big" hospital bed at 274 pounds and completely miserable. The two days prior to surgery were the worst ever. I called my Dr's nurse the morning of surgery and told her "I think I need to cancel, I can't do this." She told me that she wasn't going to listen to me and that she expected to see me at the hospital in a few hours.
I'm so glad I did. There are very very few things in my life that I'm more happy about than my decision to have Lapband surgery.
I was 32 and miserable. Couldn't stand to look at myself, even more, couldn't stand to have my husband look at me. We got together when we were 17. I was fit then, always the bigger girl, but very active. Softball, cross country, track, etc. Almost immediately after HS, the weight just piled on. When we got married at 20, my wedding dress was a size 16. I hated my wedding photos, they are horrible. To this day, very few people have actually seen them. I still have them in proof form, in a box underneath my desk. I have no pictures of my wedding out on display. For that matter, I have very few pictures of myself in the last 14 years.
We have two kids, two boys, who are very active. It was so hard to want to do anything with them. My husband, thank goodness, is one of those people who could eat the world and couldn't weigh more than 160 if he tried. So, while I always took the pictures or sat on the sidelines, they had the fun.
I spent my 20's with no sexual drive whatsoever. I was disgusted with myself. If I couldn't even look at myself, how could my husband want to. It made him sad, he always said he didn't see me the way I did. I couldn't believe him.
So, after three years of research, I initially tried to get the band in 2007. My insurance changed at year end and no longer covered it. So scratch that. In 2010, I went to my GP and he asked if I'd thought about it. Yeah yeah, I did, but insurance. He encouraged me to call and check again. Unbeknownst to me, they covered it again. I cried and cried and cried. That was in Feb 2010. I quickly researched the two Dr's that I had chosen and decided on one. Went to the seminar, got my 6 month supervised diet in, all the other pre-req's and next thing I knew, I'm laying in the hospital bed seriously thinking I shouldn't be doing this.
Recovery was HARD, not hard hard, but not what I expected. The first week, I was sure that this was the worst decision I had ever made. Only a clinically insane person would put themselves through this, I was sure of it. However, things started getting better. I was losing weight and I was losing it quickly.
When I was around 3 weeks post op, I started walking/running. Eventually, I was running a mile, then two, then three. I was actually able to RUN and ENJOY it!!!
There have been some bumps along the way. Mainly mental. Around September, I was sure I was going insane. I was okay, but, it wasn't until then, that I actually realized my crutch, my addiction, was food. I was going through a "detox", lol. It made me for one very very grouchy and irritable woman.
I believe, I finally hit onederland on December 8th. 75 pounds gone since July 29th, a little over 4 months. By the end of 2010, I was down 80-85 pounds. Now, today, I'm down 106 pounds. I still have 15-20 pounds until I reach goal but I'm happy. I'm so happy! I'm plateaued, but I'm happy.
I run 5k's WITH my kids and husband now. I have energy. I'm the person, I think I always knew was inside of me.
Make no bones about it, it is difficult. It is a huge mental mind screw. There are days I look in the mirror and I don't see me now. I see me as I was a year ago. It's hard. But there are days, I look in the mirror, with the biggest smile on my face and I see me as I am now. I've made it and I've done it.
Hugs to everyone who does this journey. It's well worth it.
I was going to post some pics from my gallery, but they were insanely too big.
Here is the link. http://www.lapbandta.../7195-new-pics/

Um…no.
OCD is a disorder. Some people with OCD smoke. That is where the relation ends.
Smoking is addictive and that is why it is so difficult for most people to give it up.
Did you think that the poster might not want to quit forever…maybe they just want to do what they need to do for surgery?
I agree, you need to really want to quit in order to do so permanently and IMO, sanctimonious down-talking is not really a good motivator. You quit 6 years ago? Great!! You could have really been helpful by telling the OP how you did it instead of preaching.

Every Dr. is different, I have to do a 2week protein shake liquid diet before surgery. I am on day 11 and it is rough at times, but like anything else after the fact you realize that is wasn't that long. I will be happy to use other forms of protein though

Dr. Ortiz at OCC in TJ, Mexico... $6800, my mom just got it done and I am on my way there in February. Awesome staff and facility!!! And way cheaper than the places here in the USA, Dr. Ortiz has been doing these longer since it wasn't approved in the USA for some time after they were doing it in Mexico. TOP NOTCH!

I was a beer maker and bread maker for over 20 years. I still have 200 lbs of malted barley in my
brewery. It was really hard to quit, but I had diabetes and other stuff wrong, so my doctor and I
decided a life style change was in order. I hated to give up all the things that were so important to
me, but considering the alternative, I had the band installed. I was about the same weight you are,
so I had to lose 20 lbs pre op and another 30 post op, but I did and I can honestly say that after
3 months I don't miss all that stuff nearly as much as I thought I would. I don't know if it's a different
mind set or if there was some biological change. Whatever, I'll take it. I can say that my life has changed
for the better even after giving up so many of the things I enjoyed. I found new stuff to enjoy.
I think if you give this an honest try, you'll be able to feel the same way. The surgery is a snap,
you go in lie down and wake up in recovery. I was able to take a long walk the next day, no pain,
you should be able to go back to work, depending how much you have to lift, in a week or two.
Just follow your surgeon's instructions and you'll be fine. The whole thing is like a diet with a little
help from the band.

My story is the same as everyone else. Told about the "repair......no charge" when I woke up. My problem is, I can't figure out what is band pain and what is repair pain.